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10 - Exploring the Nature of Mystical Experience

from Part IV - Prominent Themes and Challenges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2020

By
Steven T. Katz
Edited by
Paul K. Moser  and
Chad Meister
Paul K. Moser
Affiliation:
Loyola University, Chicago
Chad Meister
Affiliation:
Bethel University, Indiana
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Summary

Katz examines mystical experience in relation to the tendency that its content turns out to be what the mystic desires it to be, and he suggests that this tendency is not to be accounted for by the nature of the mystical experience itself. Instead, he proposes that the ineffable and ecstatic experiences of mystics are expressed by them from within the traditions they follow, thus influencing their characterizations of their mystical experiences.

Keywords

Religious experienceMysticismMetaphysicsEpistemologyMystical consciousnessMeditationTradition
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Religious Experience , pp. 239 - 260
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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